WASHINGTON — The FAA yesterday revoked the licenses of the two Northwest Airlines pilots who flew past their destination by 150 miles.

The pilots — Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer — told safety investigators they were working on their personal laptop computers and lost track of time and place.

The pilots, who were out of communication with air-traffic controllers for more than an hour during their San Diego-to-Minneapolis trip, violated numerous federal safety regulations in the incident last Wednesday night, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The violations included failing to comply with air-traffic-control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly, the agency said.

The pilots said they were brought back to awareness when a flight attendant contacted them on the aircraft’s intercom. By then, they were over Wisconsin at 37,000 feet. They turned the Airbus A320 with its 144 passengers around and landed safely in Minneapolis.

The revocations are effective immediately, the FAA said. The pilots have 10 days to appeal.